The majority of this was purchased on Black Friday but I did buy a purse in early November. I’ve been wanting a larger purse for Fall but I have a very specific list of features that I want in a purse:

• Zipper closure
• No magnets at all
• Convertible / adjustable strap
• Flat, not rolled, strap
• Large enough to hold a notebook
• Leather (does not need to be black)
• Work appropriate

I had my work cut out for me! After consulting friends, visiting stores, and online research, I landed on a satchel style from Fossil, called Sydney Satchel:

Fossil offer many different satchel styles (I debated between Rachel, Fiona, Kendall, Emma as well) but the Sydney Satchel checked all the boxes for me. And of course, wouldn’t you know it: this style was only available online (but on sale! And according to online sources, it’s discontinued) so I took a chance and ordered from the US site – this added to the cost with shipping and import duties, and I ended up paying C$215 in total.

After receiving the purse, the only feature I didn’t love was the adjustable strap – it’s notched / buckle rather than a sliding mechanism, which means 1) the notches never adjust short enough for me 2) I’m left with a long tail at the shortest setting. Plus, I wanted the sliding buckle so that I can make the strap shoulder length or crossbody – so the hunt was on for an “after market” replacement strap. Most of the straps I could find were either synthetic, very rustic handmade looking, or overpriced ($50+ for a strap, are you kidding me?) – I finally landed on one from this seller on eBay and it’s fantastic! I chose the 1″ width strap, here’s what it looks like compared to the original one:

My budget for the purse was $500 so I was happy to come well below it! The rest of my haul are clothes…

Continue reading →